New Future: The Story of Gabriella Swan
by Zaicha The Vampire Goddess
Summary: Gabriella was an ordinary girl, who left her past behind to start fresh as a Darthmouth student, everything changed with an accident that made her fall into the hands of Carlisle Cullen. Will she be able to heal her heart and let Edward in? RE-POST, NOW BETAED!
1. Edward Cullen

**This story is very important to me because the first part of it, when Gabriella is human, is based on real life events from someone very close to me. All the characters mentioned in that part are real too, I only changed names.**

**Enjoy!**

**Pre-story introduction**

**Edward:**

My "siblings" and I had been on vacation for a few months now. Carlisle agreed with us that we would leave them alone for a year or so; Esme agreed after a lot of convincing. She didn't want us to be away from her too long.

She became my mother after Elizabeth, my human life mother, I could barely remember her after all those years, but that didn't bother me because I knew from what Carlisle told me that she loved me until her last minute of life.

I was alone at the hotel. My brothers had gone to the casino to make some more unnecessary cash, and I stayed at my simple hotel suite…well, not so simple. My suite had a piano and a window view. But the rest of the suite was just how I liked it, simple. As I lounged in my room, I started wondering if I would ever find love…I mean the love of my existence like my siblings and Carlisle has.

I envied them sometimes, and it was hard for me to be around them when they got all lovey-dovey and retreated to their bedrooms. At 118 years old, I still haven't found the one. Well not that I actually went looking for her, either. I was still trapped in a seventeen-year-old body, but I was making it hard too. I knew that in Forks there had been lots of girls interested in me, but the problem was that I wasn't interested in any of them, and it was very disappointing for both sides.

I knew Esme was growing impatient because I didn't have somebody, but I still had hope that I would soon meet my mate. Ever since Alice joined the family, she always told me that I had to have patience because she knew that I was going to be loved by someone at one point in my existence and that when that day arrived, my whole future would change forever. She told me that my life would never be the same after that perfect woman made an appearance in my lonely existence.

By some crazy miracle I believed her; no one ever dares to bet on Alice.

The months went by, and I was getting bored. I wanted to go back to Forks, but Alice wasn't going to let me bail on the rest of the trip. She would tear me apart and burn me if I dared to leave, so I didn't have another option. I just had to suck it up and enjoy the rest of the vacation.

"Emmett, why the hell do you have to be such a jerk?" Alice yelled, opening the door and fumbling inside the penthouse, furious. I turned off the TV and stood up from the couch to see what was wrong. I froze in my tracks when I saw Alice. She was covered on pink sticky stuff and she was livid

"Emmett McCarty Cullen! What the hell did you do to her?" I exclaimed, taking a towel and handing it to Alice. She thanked me as she took it.

Emmett huffed and sat on an armchair, his arms crossed on his chest, "Dude, I apologized, okay? And besides, it wasn't my fault she stood under it. I swear the prank was for the hotel manager not her," he said in his defense.

Alice was still angry, "You owe me a new Dolce dress, you know that Emmett?" she said and went to her shared room with Jasper to change. Emmett laughed when she was out of sight.

"I heard that!" she yelled.

I threw a cushion to Emmett, and he caught it in midair and threw it back at me.

"Stop that crap, man! I told you in Rome not to keep doing pranks on the hotel staff! Do you want us to get kicked out of every hotel in the world?" I asked, exasperated. This was the tenth joke he had done on this trip.

My patience with him was dancing on a fine line. "And I'm telling Rose by the way…unless Alice didn't do it already…" I trailed with a smile; I knew Alice told her. I saw it in her head and heard the conversation. Rosalie was beyond pissed. She was on her way to the hotel; I didn't want to be here when she exploded against Emmett.

Ten minutes later Rosalie barged through the door with five shopping bags in her hands and Jasper behind her "Emmett Dale McCarty Cullen, I leave you alone for two hours and this is what you do! What the hell where you thinking? I told you to stop this nonsense in Rome! You're in so much trouble," she said, running after him.

Our hotel was near a small forest. The hotel wasn't that crowded with guests, so Emmett jumped off the balcony, Rose right behind him; lucky for them no one saw them. I made sure of that.

Okay, what can I say about that night? Alice got her revenge, Emmett got his punishment and everything went back to normal. They say that payback is a kick in the rear—Emmett words not mine. He had to buy Alice a new Dolce dress, and the rest is history.

More months passed by and our vacation wasn't ending. We were on Isle Esme. I loved the island. It was perfect, and I liked Brazil a lot. I kept thinking and wondering when was I going to find my mate. I was tired of being alone. It had been too many years, but I had to be patient. Alice had said so, and I believed her. We stayed in Isle Esme for a month before we went to Germany.

After Germany we went to Switzerland and Russia, and our last destination was Japan. We spent another month there. We were at the airport on the last day of our trip. We were going home. I was reading a magazine when Alice sat beside me with a smile. Jasper had gone to the various stores at the terminal and Rosalie and Emmett…well I don't know exactly where those two went to.

"Edward, I saw her," she said, looking in my eyes.

I looked back at her confused. "Who Alice? Who did you see?"

"Your mate. I finally saw her face," she told me.

I looked around hopefully; Alice pinched my bicep.

"Stop that! She's not here, dumbass," she scolded me with a frown.

I exhaled; I could only hope that I could see her now.

Alice had told me when we started our vacation that my mate was on her way that she was getting closer to me, and that it would only be a matter of time before I met her. Apparently, that time had arrived. I was finally going to meet her. I got nervous. Would she like me? Would she love me back? Those and more questions flowed through my mind; I shook my head to clear it from all the inning questions that were not going to be answered at the moment.

"What does she look like, Alice?" I asked.

She let me in her mind and only showed me her eyes. They were golden like mine but with a hint of brown. It was a rare color. Another question escaped my lips. "Is she a vampire?" I asked.

Alice nodded. Okay, that explained the eyes.

Alice took my hand and sighed. I knew that sigh, something was wrong.

"What is it?" I asked

"Your mate," she said.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked panicking.

"I can see that this is going to be a bit difficult for you to gain her heart," she said.

"Why?" I asked.

"Because she will play a little hard to get. I can't see the exact reason for her to be like that…I've been having a few flashbacks of her human life, but I can't understand any of it. So I guess you will have to figure that one out," she told me solemnly.

I nodded and asked one more question. "Will it all be worth it in the end?" I asked.

Alice smiled sweetly at me and answered, "Yes, Edward, and believe me when I say this. No matter what you two go trough and no matter what she tells you, it will work out in the end. I promise. I've seen it."

I nodded again and smiled at her. I couldn't be happier she was finally here; I was just a few hours away from meeting my mate.

"Gabriella," Alice said all of a sudden.

"What?" I asked.

"Her name is Gabriella Swan," Alice said.

After that, she stood up and walked away.

I couldn't wait to get home; I couldn't wait to meet my mate, my Gabriella.

**A/N: The next chapter is Gabriella's introduction of the story, and we might find out why it will be hard for Edward to gain her heart... **


	2. The First Break

_**My life was normal. I didn't get in trouble, I helped others, and I was a good friend. Maybe I was a little too trusting for my own good, and so it happened that on my last semester of high school, I opened my heart for the first time. I've been trying to forget it, but in order to move on. I have to speak. So let me tell you how it went the first time I got my heart broken.**_

**Chapter 2**

**The First Break**

It was the first day of my second semester of senior year. I went to school and walked straight over to see my friends. We were happy to see each other; the day went without any problems. The week turned out to be a great one. We were on the second week of January when I made the first move of the first big mistake of my life. His name was Spencer. He was in advanced placement while I was in the second level academic group at our school. My group might not have had the highest grade point average, but in my opinion, we were the coolest. I was in health class with my friends, Sandy and Mara, talking with the teacher about prom when Spencer passed by and poked my ribs because I was on his way. Three days later I took revenge and poked him back and that's how it all started.

I had studied with Spencer in the first grade. I then moved when the year finished, and I didn't see him again until I went to middle school. We were placed in the same group, but we didn't talk much at first. The days passed, and I began to talk to him. We had lunch together and hung out during recess. We exchanged cell numbers and started talking sometimes in the evenings. At school I even hurried to get out ten minutes after two because that was our free period. I ditched my friends and went to wait for him outside. I asked him about his life and vice versa. We talked a lot. I knew he wasn't perfect, but I thought he was great. One day we gathered at the library, and he checked my broken Mp3 player and fixed it with just a simple check on his laptop. I was amazed!

One afternoon we were out of school, waiting for the bus in the rain, so I took out my umbrella, and he held it for me while I carried his laptop. I was really flattered by this gesture. The days passed. We went to lunch outside school to a Chinese place nearby we went too often. One day he tells me that he needs to talk to me.

''Okay, let's talk'' I said, but it was the end of the lunch break and we both had classes. I had physics, and he had Advanced English, so there was no time to talk.

At free period, I went to our usual spot by the bus stop, and he wasn't there. I asked one of his annoying freshman friends if he had seen him.

''No, he left on the bus twenty minutes ago,'' he replied.

He left without speaking to me; I was both intrigued and worried by this.

I was so hyper the rest of the afternoon wondering what Spencer wanted, but I just decided to forget about it and continue with what I had to do. It was around a quarter to seven when I was finishing my chores that my cell phone rang with the ringtone I had given Spencer. I literally ran to pick it up.

"Hello," I said

"Hi,'' he answered.

"How are you?'' I asked

"I'm fine, just wondering about something I have to tell you''.

"You can tell me anything,'' I told him.

"So what are you up to?" he asked.

"I'm just doing the dishes."

"Oh, you might be worthy in the end then," he replied.

"Okay...what's that supposed to mean?"

"I'm just joking," he replied.

"So what was that you wanted to say?"

"I was wondering if you would like to be my girlfriend?'' My heart started beating really fast. I was ready for this, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a joke.

"Can you repeat that?" I asked.

"I asked if you wanted to be my girlfriend,'' he said again.

"Yes, of course.''

The next day I went with Spencer to the gas station near school because he wanted a snack. He got a chocolate bar. Halfway back he gave me some of it. All of a sudden he tried to kiss me, but since I wasn't ready, I turned my head, and he missed my mouth.

"Oops,'' I apologized.

"I didn't know. You should have told me what you wanted to do. I'm really sorry''.

"That's okay," he told me. "One part of me wanted the kiss, but I don't know''.

"Oh, okay...'' I said, really ashamed of myself.

So after that awkward moment, everything was okay. He didn't try to kiss me again, but I didn't see anything wrong with that. The days passed and we were so happy.' The only thing that was bothering Spencer was that I couldn't stand his friends. They were all jealous because he was spending time with me. I told him that they were just jealous, and he let the matter go, but that was not the end of it. January passed and February came. This was my favorite month because I was finally turning eighteen in just a few days! I didn't know that Spencer hated this month until I told him about my happiness.

He hated February because in the past, he didn't have anyone to spend Valentine's Day with. This year was the exception because he had me, but he wasn't that eager about it. Spencer and I were together every chance we had. Everybody was noticing, and Spencer was getting annoyed because we were secretly dating. He wanted things to be like that since the beginning. I didn't know what to make of it. I had been okay with it, but once I thought about it, why didn't he want everyone to know?

It was finally my birthday. I got out of bed and did my morning routine and went to school like every other day. My friends Ryan, Rose, Emma, Leah, Jackie, Mara, and Sandy greeted and congratulated me when I saw them before the bell rang; the day was okay, nothing out of the ordinary. At lunch Spencer had called and told me he wasn't going to get lunch, so I decided to follow him. I went where he was and sat by him. We were just talking, but after a while, he caressed my cheek, and I just looked at him. My heart started beating so fast it was racing inside of me, and then suddenly he kissed me. It was our first kiss. It was the happiest day of my life.

The days passed and that's when the problems started. As the time went by, graduation drew near, and all of a sudden, Spencer had changed. I don't know what happened to him; out of nowhere he started treating me like I was scum. He humiliated me in front of his friends by saying that I was always following him around like a stalker. When I asked him why he was being this way, he just said that he was doing it as a cover because people started asking him what was going on between us. He told them that nothing was going on because of "our agreement" of not telling anyone. Even though I had agreed to do that at the beginning, now it was hurting me. Was I not worthy? Why was our relationship a secret?

I was so annoyed and upset, but things didn't stop there. When we talked on the phone, he looked for every excuse available to hang up. It was so unfair! The situation was making me upset, but I shut my mouth because I did not want him to have another excuse for a fight or argument. Stupid as I was, I always did what he told me. I was the good girl that never asked him why. I just gave my whole into everything.

School was getting a little bit annoying through the final weeks. I started again with drama club, since I was the co-writer of this year's school play. The scenes had been an assignment, but my group did so good the teacher wanted to present it.

I had to be there for rehearsals because I was also in the play, so in between my drama rehearsals, schoolwork, and Spencer, I was getting frustrated; things got worse on a daily basis. He was so selfish, and he was not caring about my feelings anymore. Emma was a mutual friend. I was also friends with her brother, Joe, although he was way older than we were. He was sometimes there at the bus stop, so he knew about the situation.

''You have a relationship with a great girl, and you are treating her this way. Why are you being so stupid?'' Joe had asked him, but Spencer didn't give him an answer. Joe promised me that he was going to keep insisting until Spencer talked to him.

When we talked on the phone, Spencer complained because according to him, I was getting too dramatic, so he started to take an evasive reaction. I wanted to be with him, but he said that I was "killing the passion." He was the one who did not want to come clean about what was going on. I was trying to save things, not make them worse. I was sick of fighting for something that was not valuable anymore. I was being weak because I loved him and knew that he loved me back or at least that's what I had thought.

I was late for class again. I was on the second floor stairways when I heard my name being called. I turned around and it was Spencer who called me.

''I want to talk to you now,'' he told me.

''Spit it out," I responded sourly.

''Well, I have made my decision about us,'' he said in a cool tone as if he was talking about the weather.

''Well?'' I asked. After all he had done in the past month; nothing he said to me now could hurt me anymore; well, that's what I was thinking while I was standing there in front of him.

''I thought this through and for the both of us, it will be better if we break up." He shot the words like bullets. They crashed directly into my heart, but I acted cool like he hadn't done anything to me. And that was all he said. We never spoke to each other after that. When I went home, I cried my heart out for three weeks. During that time, I didn't eat much, I woke up tired every day, and I even almost messed up my GPA, but I didn't. I went through my days in a semi-zombie state; I went through the motions without really noticing. Days after that I learned how he was in reality; the truth always wheels itself out. Emma and Leah told me that they had something to tell me about Spencer. I eagerly listened to them because they said it was important.

They told me the truth about our relationship. They said that everything he did to me was in revenge because of all the times he has been rejected and dumped by his other ex-girlfriends that never lasted more than 2 months. So in his desire for revenge, he decided to ruin my life. He was so immature! I was glad that finally, I knew the truth. After that I decided that I didn't have to cry for him anymore. One day I woke up and suddenly I didn't remembered what had happened. I continued my life like he had never existed and ignored him for the final weeks of school. Because of what he did to me, he lost the friendship of Emma and her brother, Joe. Joe was furious; he sided with me and never answered his calls again. He lost a great friend.

So days went on, and it was time to say goodbye to high school. The end of the school year arrived, the day we had been waiting for since freshman year. I was still a bit sentimental since everything that had happened with Spencer, and this day hit me like lightning. I didn't want to say goodbye to my friends. We had been together since the tenth grade. Emma and I had been friends since elementary school and all through junior high. My classmates and I were more than friends; we were like brothers and sisters. But time was not our side and the clock hit the final hour for us.

We were not going to see each other much after this, and for me that was awful because I knew I was going to miss my friends. I was the first one to leave; I hugged my friends and told them that no matter where we were, I would never forget them. We had a lot of memories; they were all good, nothing bad ever happened between us. I also told them that I would always have a place for them in my heart, and that they could count on me. After I said my goodbyes, I hurried to the car without looking back. I didn't want to see them crying. After three years it was hard to say goodbye.

On graduation day, I woke up early because the ceremony was at nine in the morning sharp. I dressed, had breakfast, did my makeup, and hurried to the car. Mom came out a few minutes later, and we were on our way. We took an alternate route that took us less time. When I got there, all of my classmates and friends were lined up in pairs. I ended up next to Sandy. She had hurt her ankle the day before, so she held onto my arm while we entered together. We both fought back our tears. We had been best friends since she came as new student in junior year.

The ceremony followed its course. I was just a little emotive, and the masters of ceremony started calling names for the awards:

''And now we will give the names for the drama medal: Gabriella Elizabeth Swan, Sandy Marie Evans, and Spencer Carmichael Smith were our most valuable actors and helpers.''

I also got a medal for my GPA and a medal for English.

After the awards, there was a special performance, and after that they called out the names for the diplomas.

''And last but not least, Miss Gabriella Elizabeth Swan''

"Well now let's receive on the stage our school headmaster and headmistress" the master of ceremony said.

"Good morning, parents, friends, and class, this is a very important day.''

They gave a short speech, and they concluded saying, ''And finally the moment you all have been waiting for. With the power that the school district gives me, I declare you officially graduated. Congratulations, class of 2009!'' We all started shouting and graduation caps flew everywhere. I threw mine as high as I could. It flew for a few seconds and then it landed by my side.

That was it; that was the end of high school. These were the last hours we'd have together. I couldn't believe that after all these years it was actually happening! I hugged Sandy, Emma, Tiara, Rose, and some of my other classmates. We were all very sentimental, but I did not cry. Maybe it was because I was dry after all those crying nights where I wasted my tears on Spencer. We went of the banquet hall where the ceremony had been held and out to the hallway to say goodbye. I promised all my friends that we'd see each other at prom and then we all left.

It was the night of nights**.** I was excited because this was supposed to be the best night of senior year, and because I knew that a certain person wasn't going to be there, I knew this because he had told me weeks ago that he just paid the expenses needed for graduation only. It was going to be the best night ever; I arrived at eight o'clock sharp like it said on the invitation. Emma had come with me. I gave her a ride. While we waited for the rest of our friends to arrive, we started taking pictures. The night went without any problem. We had dinner around nine thirty, and prom picked up after that. The music started to get louder and we hurried to the dance floor. We danced as a group since we did not have dates.

_Who needs a guy?_ I thought to myself.

It was the best night ever; I danced until I could barely stand on my feet! It was really what I expected and more. I had a great time. I think I deserved it after all that I had gone through in the last weeks of the semester. I didn't let that get to me, yeah it still hurt a little, but I had time to heal and I did. It took me the whole summer, but when August came back, and I was ready for college, I was myself again, all bad memories gone —only the good ones stayed.


	3. Battle Wounds

**Chapter 2:**

**Battle Wounds (Mid-August)**

The summer rolled by, and I was myself again before college started. I still missed my friends, but that was it. I was excited for school to start and scared at the same time; I was used to the eight in the morning to three in the afternoon schedule from high school, so when I saw my college schedule and really grasped how long my day would be, I got a little nervous. This was going to be a new experience for me. I had come to the university before the term started to familiarize myself with the hallways and classrooms so that when the day came, others wouldn't notice that I was a freshman, and it worked. I went right to class without getting lost. Throughout the day, I was still nervous, but in the end, there was nothing to worry about.

**A month later (mid-September)**

I was hanging out at the university at a group of picnic tables outside of hallway X with a bunch of other people. I was avoiding a guy who kept asking me out. He wasn't taking no for an answer and had started following me around. In the group I was hanging out with, there was this tall, influential guy, Julian, who was telling us about how a girl that used to hang out with the group had asked him to kiss her. Everyone was making jokes about it because he was saying that she didn't know how to kiss. He asked one of us girls to help him demonstrate what he did when she asked, and I don't know why in the world I did it, but I volunteered. I let him kiss me just to demonstrate, but something inside me stirred when our lips met. He was an attractive guy with light skin that set off his light brown eyes, exactly my type... The feeling of his lips on mine lingered for the rest of the day. I could not shake off the memory of the kiss.

Julian had heard of about my admirer, was becoming more like a stalker and offered to help by pretending to be my boyfriend. I agreed because I wanted the guy to finally stop following me around once and for all.

After the first time the guy saw Julian and I together, he left me alone.

One day, Julian and I were talking while seated on one of the many picnic tables I noticed that he kept looking at me.

"What is it?" I asked because I was always uncomfortable when someone looked at me for long periods of time.

"Nothing," he said and sighed.

"Okay," I said, although he was still looking at me.

"Why don't we make this official?" he blurted out.

"What are you talking about?"

"I want us to be official," he stated.

Was he for real? It couldn't be. He had to be joking.

"You don't believe me?" he asked.

"Why would I? I mean, have you seen yourself? How can a guy like you be interested in a girl like me?" I asked.

He sighed.

"I like you," he said.

"You do?"

"Yes, ever since the first time I saw you," he replied.

I was still incredulous with all that I had been through; this had to be a joke, a bet even.

Again, I didn't say anything.

"You think I'm joking?" he asked, and I nodded.

"Unbelievable."

"That's why I'm in shock, because it is unbelievable."

"Well, I'm not joking, Gabriella," he stated.

I sighed while I thought about it. Was it too soon for me to be thinking of being with someone else? I mean, I was in high school two months ago. Everything that happened with Spencer was still so fresh. I was unsure and afraid. But the way he made me feel when he kissed me, I'd never experienced that before; it was amazing, and he was absolutely gorgeous too. He waited for me to say something. He didn't pressure me at all, just waited patiently while I made up my mind.

With a final deep breath, I replied, "Okay, let's do it"

"For real?" he asked.

"Yes"

He grabbed my face and kissed me right there and then, everything fluttered inside me. The feeling was so strong. I realized that I didn't experience anything like this with Spencer. Maybe Julian was the right guy, the one I had been waiting for all along.

We spent the rest of the week talking about our interests, getting to know each other. But I was still wary about the recent developments; I was in my own right to feel that way since all of it happened so fast I didn't have a chance to assimilate to any of it. I noticed that he was sometimes short on his patience with me. He was being the sweetest, and I was being a bit cold. I was afraid of putting everything out in the open. Spencer had made me be this way. I still couldn't believe that he wanted me. I wasn't going to get used to that very quickly. It was going to be a while before I could actually believe it.

It had been a week since Julian and I had been together. I definitely knew that I liked him. I mean, the physical attraction was there at all times, but I also felt good while I was with him. Another week went by and although I felt good with Julian, I was still sometimes reluctant and nervous around him. I decided to tell him about Spencer. That's when he finally understood why I was so shy and surprised when he approached me. He said that it was understandable, but that I had to let it go and move forward.

He promised me that he wasn't going to treat me like that, that he wasn't going to hurt me. He seemed so sincere when he was telling me this that I believed him; I mean, why wouldn't I believe him?

He had expressed many times that he wanted to be with me. That's when I, without knowing it, made the mistake that started the events that happened in the future course of our relationship. I was intimate with him; he convinced me and lured me into it. The moment was great, and I felt like never before, but it had been too much too soon. I just didn't know that yet. A few days after that, he told me he loved me.

I wasn't ready to say it back yet, and he didn't push me, and for that I was grateful.

Three weeks passed before I finally told him that I loved him. His face lit up, and we enveloped ourselves in a heated kiss that made my declaration official. I was really happy with him, and I indeed had fallen in love with him; that was the moment when I decided to forget everything that had happened in my life before and let him in completely. I gave him everything that I had, who I was, all of it. The months passed by and everything was peaches and cream. He had met my family and I met his. We spent a lot of time together. We were making a lot of good memories. I really thought that he was the one; I truly believed it, He had stated it so many times.

They say the first year is the hardest, right? I could truly say that Julian and I were okay. We had our ups and downs moments like every couple, but we managed to see past them and continue forward with our relationship.

**One Year and three months later:**

We were on the second semester of our third year of college; I was already twenty one years old, a legal adult. Something in me had changed. I sometimes felt that Julian and I weren't communicating anymore, that all I did was make him happy, and I did everything that he wanted so that we didn't argue. Our arguments were emotionally draining; well, at least on my behalf. I don't think he ever felt anything, although he said he did. I didn't see him react most of the time; it's as if he was a piece of emotionless rock.

Everything went down when I sometimes acted jealously, but I did it with good reason. Julian had been with a lot of girls—some of them from the university. These girls would approach him in greeting, and while there was nothing wrong with that, my problem was that he let them touch him and even sit on his lap or make inappropriate comments of their time together in front of me. He was supposed to respect me. If I didn't act with anyone this way, then why should him?

My family had opened the door of our home to him. He stayed over multiple times. There was practically a Julian shaped silhouette on the living room couch. The drop that spilled over the cup was when I put my foot down and decided not to have sex with him. Sex had become a big part of our relationship. It was like everything revolved around it, and I didn't like it. I was more than a body. I was a person with feelings, not something to use or play with whenever Julian wanted. So I said that I didn't want to be intimate with him until we got married—we were not even engaged yet—but I felt like I was not only being used, but also I didn't feel intimately connected with him anymore. Yes, the sex was great because Julian's good at that, but I felt dirty somehow. I thought he was going to understand my position since he made me believe that he did, but every time there was an argument, the issue would come up.

Another thing that had driven me crazy was his obsession with video games. He spent almost all his time glued to them even at school. It was maddening, and I was going nuts about it. He asked me to play on multiple times, but I refused. I had a strong belief that video games in excessive doses will fry your brain. He argued that he was going to tone down his video game time when I stopped obsessing over Ian Somerhalder. He debated that he was my obsession and that I needed to let him go for the best of our relationship. Ian was a person that I admired as an actor. He had nothing to do with Julian's crazy obsession with games because I knew that if I ever met Ian in person, the "obsessiveness" would go away...

In the end, the argument was futile and all the times we talked about it after that too. Neither of us wanted to relent. Although I didn't have a problem because I wasn't a "stalker like" fan who needed to know every Nitti gritty fact about the person that I admired as Julian accused me of. The relationship was crumbling with every passing day, and I wasn't even aware of it until it was too late.

I thought we had a stable relationship. We had even decided the setting and color palette of our wedding; it was going to be at the beach, even though I didn't like it that much, but it was going to be cheaper, and the colors were crimson red and silver. I had even found a beautiful dress that suited me.

**Three months later:**

Things between Julian and I were sketchy at best. We barely spoke on the phone, and if we did, it was for less than five minutes. We were both avoiding fights and arguments. At school he was on one side and me on another. He was doing his thing while I kept to my own business. Classmates had come to me, telling me that they have noticed some strange behavior from Julian; well it was not strange behavior, but inappropriate for a person who had a "stable" relationship. They said that they had seen him speaking with a girl from the hallway Z group.

"He has a lot of girl-friends. He knows a lot of people." I always answered because Julian had asked me to trust him fully, and that's what I was doing.

"It's not that he is just talking to the girl, Gabriella. It's the way he is talking to with her, and I mean his mannerisms and closeness," said a girl I barely knew.

"Everything is all right. They are just friends…we're okay. Everything is fine between Julian and me." I repeated over and over again.

"If you say so," someone said, ending the topic.

All the signs were there, but I was too blind, too trusting to see them, but when our relationship ended, it hurt nonetheless. I was too far deep into him, his hook on me so deep that the wound he left hurt unimaginably. A little while after being told that Julian was talking to someone else, Julian asked me for time to think—about what, I'll never know, but I trusted that this was just a rough patch, so I acceded to give our relationship the break that he was asking for. It hurt for the first few days. The hours passed by slowly, and I was hurting because he didn't want to see or talk to me.

_He needs time,_ I kept saying to myself.

_He will come back when he is ready, just be patient and wait. _

All of these words were in my head over and over. It got to a point where he didn't kiss me anymore. We were two strangers that were together. I was even willing to break the vow and be intimate with him again. I was willing to do anything and everything to get him back.

I started to use shirts that showed subtly more cleavage than what I usually wore to school. I was trying to get him back at all costs that I resorted to that low resource. But he wasn't coming back to me, because he was already emotionally invested with someone else.

At the beginning of our relationship, I had made him promise me that if he ever wanted to be with someone else, to let me go first. This didn't mean that it wasn't going to hurt now. What had been healed from my heart from before, shattered, taking the rest of my heart down with it.

There was a part of me that was lost that day; I wasn't going to be the same again. Julian broke my heart even more than Spencer. That had been nothing compared to what I was feeling right now. My world just shattered when everything was said and done. I was in shock, but I knew it was real. I knew it was happening. He didn't want me anymore. All of his promises were vain and empty; all of it lost its meaning, even the good memories. I didn't want to think of him. I didn't want him to be such a big part of me, but he was, and the feelings I had for him were not going to go away so easily.

Days later my mother woke me up to tell me that none of it had been my fault, that it was his loss because all he wanted was a place to escape to from the life he had with his father. Since he saw that the only way of getting that with me was if he married me, he didn't want to wait for the right moment. The girl he left me for is named Alyssa. She is an only child who had everything on a silver platter, not that she was rich because she wasn't, but her parents gave her everything. They opened up their home to him, and she also gave him plenty of what I had refused in the last months. I guess that's why he left me. I know I won't ever know the real reason. He's never going to tell me, and I'm okay with that. But it didn't mean that I wasn't beating myself over it because I was.

This time the blow was harder, the wound deeper. I was confused and afraid of what was to come, but I confronted it head on, but I was avoiding the places he frequented at all costs. I didn't want to talk to him; I didn't want to see him ever again. I was trying to let go of him. It was hard, but in the end, I really didn't care.

I promised myself that from then on, my heart was going to be guarded; I wasn't just going to let be displayed for anyone. If someone ever came after Julian, it was going to be hard for him to win my heart. I wasn't going to back down on that, and it's who I was now.

I wanted a change in my life. I wanted it to be radical…you need to be careful what you desire or wish for because you never know what life might bring. In a moment everything can change…


	4. Really Don't Care

**I own nothing, this chapter has been betaed. Chapters 1-3 have been betaed too, you're welcome to go back and read :-) Enjoy!**

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**Chapter 4:**

**Really don't Care… (Aka; Leaving the Island)**

During the subsequent months after the breakup, I focused on my life, on finishing the semester, forgetting everything that happened, and trying to enjoy the summer. I got a summer job and that helped get my mind off of things.

I had applied for an opportunity to study abroad in the United States in the state of New Hampshire. I didn't think that I would get it, and with everything that had happened, I had completely forgotten about it. To my surprise, I received a letter from Dartmouth saying that they had selected me for their honor program plus three weeks of vacation paid by the institution.

I had once told everyone about the opportunity, and everyone said I should definitely apply. Now that I have gotten it, they encouraged me to go. I wasn't going to get another offer like this, so I accepted and packed everything that I needed plus some additions to my wardrobe. I arrived at the airport two hours before the flight's departure; I went through customs and then waited for a little bit. The flight departed from the Puerto Rico International Airport at four in the afternoon on July 30th. It was a long flight.

I had been on an airplane before, but I had been too young to remember it. I was a little lightheaded and nervous since I suffer from motion sickness. Dartmouth gave a list of vacation destinations according to the locations of the students; New York was on my list, so I decided to go there since I had been dying to go for a while. I distracted myself with thinking while I listened to my favorite playlist. I thought about a lot of stuff: first that this was the last time I was going to see the land where I lived for 18 years. I mean, I was going to be gone for a while.

I remembered that when I was a few years younger, I used to say to myself that the day I put a foot on a plane to leave this island, I was never coming back. I now had bitter sweet thoughts on this. It now seemed like the best time with everything that had happened. I was going to be able to heal in peace, meet new people, and experience things I never thought I would before. I was a legal adult with a scholarship to one of the best colleges in the United States.

The plane finally landed at JFK airport. My heart started beating faster. I was really here! I still couldn't believe it. While I made my way through the airport, I called home to say that I landed. I couldn't talk much because of the crowdedness of the airport; there was a lot of noise.

I went to get my bags; I had shipped some of my stuff to the school since I couldn't carry it on the plane, and after that I went to find the person in charge of assisting me from the university. I had been notified that three other students participating in the program chose New York, so there were four of us, and I was the only girl. I found the aide of the school of Business and Enterprise. It was a girl, and she looked a lot older than the rest of us. That was good, I guess. She knew what she was doing if the school picked her out for this.

"Welcome to New York. My name is, Shelley Dawson, and I'm a senior at Dartmouth. We will take a bus to the hotel now where you can rest and have a late dinner," She informed us.

We followed her to the bus and then we went to the hotel. When we were checked in, I hurried to my suite; I took a bath instead of a shower. It felt nice. I hadn't had the time to give myself a nice relaxing bath in a long time. I changed into my favorite pajamas and went to bed. I sat on the end and grabbed the phone; I called room service and ordered a sandwich. I ate; I brushed my teeth, and turned on the TV. After changing channels for more than twenty minutes, I drifted to sleep.

The next morning we were taken to an orientation workshop at the hotel, which ended at noon. We had lunch at the hotel, and then Shelley took us sightseeing to some local places. I was in awe of everything that I saw. I took a lot of pictures.

The days passed, and I was taken by everything in New York. I was impressed by the Empire State building. We had been taken to the headquarters of the New York Times and to the MTV studios. The hardest part for me was when we went to Ellis Island, because of my motion sickness. Shelley helped me and gave me some medicine to control it. The pills helped a little, but I was lightheaded for the rest of the afternoon. The sight from The Statue of Liberty was amazing; I had taken some great pictures.

I got a little emotional when we went to the World Trade Center memorial; I was twelve when the twin towers fell. I don't think that I'm ever going to forget that day. I didn't lose anyone, but the incident was so shocking that it was engraved on my brain. That night we went to Manhattan to have dinner at planet Hollywood. I had dressed nicely, and I had connected with the boys. They were very cool and pretty intelligent. Planet Hollywood had costumes and props from movies; I was in movie la-la land. All of it was great!

We also had the chance to visit the beach. We were taken to Coney Island. The water was horribly cold, but I enjoyed the shops and food. I'd wanted to eat at Nathan's in what felt like forever; I filled myself with it that day. That same day we went to the Madame Tussauds museum. I took pictures with a lot of my favorite artists. This is as close as I have gotten to some of them, but I didn't care that they weren't real. Manhattan at night was beautiful; we even went to a Broadway show and saw The Lion King. I enjoyed the theatre and plays; it was a great experience for me.

My time in New York was coming to an end; it was almost time to go to New Hampshire. We were going to take the bus. Shelley had left early, saying that she would meet us back at Dartmouth. We were supposed to take a van to grand central station but some miscommunication happened, and we had to leave the hotel separately. I took a taxi on my own. I was listening to a song called "Really don't care." It was an upbeat break-up song. I had been listening to it all summer. I loved it.

The driver was at a stoplight, waiting for a red light to turn green, when it happened…

**Carlisle's POV**

After Esme and I deviated from Alice's massive Vacation plans, we decided to come to New York where I took a position at one of the hospitals. We lived in a nice apartment complex that had underground parking, perfect for me to get out on sunny days, and my Mercedes had very dark tints so staying out of the sun wasn't a problem. The hospital had an underground staff parking lot with elevator access that was also convenient, although I did most of my shifts at night. I spent the days with Esme. We hadn't had much time for each other in a while, so we were enjoying all of it.

It was one of those rare days that I worked the day shift. I was in my office going through some files when I was paged.

"Dr. Cullen, report immediately to the ER." I left what I was doing and headed down there.

"What's coming on?" I asked Nurse Mary who had just finished washing her hands.

"A young female. She was in a car crash. Paramedics say she is in critical condition."

"What happened?"

"Her taxi was hit from behind. She was crushed between the taxi divider and the other car. She needs to be prepped for surgery as soon as she arrives," she said.

"She hit her head pretty hard. They don't know yet, but there might be a concussion too."

"And the driver. What condition is he in?" I asked.

"He's stable. He has a broken arm. She's the one who got the bad part," She added.

I went to wash my hands, and while I was doing this, I heard the sirens approaching. Soon enough the ER doors opened and the girl was brought in. She was barely conscious.

"Do not worry, honey. You will be okay. I promise." I soother her while I assessed her injuries without touching her.

"It hurts," she whispered. I was pretty sure that I was the only one who heard her.

"Give her six cc's of morphine and get her ready for the OR stat. Nurse Ellen, I need X-rays stat!" I instructed.

She was taken into the OR. Her legs were pretty mangled up. The lower part of her spine was shattered, so she was immobilized from that area down. One of her arms was completely unhinged from her shoulder, so we had to take care of that also. When the surgery was done, I listened to the other doctors discuss the low probability that she would ever walk again while I knew that there wasn't much chance of her waking up at all.

I then learned that she only visiting New York with Dartmouth's summer program.

We kept contact with them since she was their responsibility. We hadn't notified the family of the girl yet because we didn't have any contact information besides what she had in her wallet. Her cellphone had been crushed on the accident.

I didn't know what to do. I was conflicted. I wanted to help her, but what she needed was a miracle.

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**The song gabriella was listening and the clothes from this chapter are on the blog, link on my profile. Any thoughts? See ya!**


	5. Broken and Bruised

**Here is the next chapter! You get one more right after this one. I dont own Twilight, hope you like it.**

**Chapter 5**

**Broken and Bruised:**

I was hit by another car from behind. I did not even had time to react. It all happened so fast. My body was crushed against the divider of the taxi. I couldn't move, and I could not feel my body; I think my legs were broken.

This is it. This is the end…

Out of nowhere, the police arrived. There was a loud metallic sound after the paramedics and the ambulance arrived. They hurried over to me, taking me out of the car with a lot of care. They strapped me onto a gurney and hurried rushed me to the ambulance, and we were off to the hospital.

All I could think about was the pain radiating through my whole body and the pounding in my head. I was barely listening to what the paramedics were saying. But in my unconciuosness, I heard that the accident wasn't the driver's fault. The other guy had lost control of his car, and the brakes didn't worked when he tried to stop.

Next thing I knew, someone was talking to me, and he had the most beautiful voice I have heard in my life.

"Don't worry, honey. You will be okay. I promise." I tried to nod, but I couldn't move at all.

I woke up after a long time. I tried to speak, but my voice was hoarse and barely audible.

"Don't try to move." I heard the same beautiful voice tell me.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Cullen, and I am taking care of you, Gabriella.''

I turned my eyes to where the voice came from. The room was barely lit, so I couldn't tell what time it was. Dr. Cullen was the most beautiful person I had seen in my life. He was pale and had the most beautiful golden brown eyes I had ever seen. He was very young, though. He looked like he might be in college rather than a doctor.

"How bad am I hurt doctor?'' I managed to ask.

He sighed. "Well, the lower part of your spine and both of your legs are broken. You have a concussion and a plastered shoulder and arm. You've also lost a lot of blood.''

"Will I heal in time to go to college?"

"We are doing what we can, Miss Swan, but you've just had surgery, and you will need physical therapy for both your arm and legs."

"So I'm crippled," I said.

"Hey, don't talk like that. You will get better. Everything will be fine." He sounded convincing.

For the next few days, he came to my room every hour to check on me, and every time he came, he asked me something about myself. I told him my story, and how I ended up at this hospital.

**Carlisle's POV**

**Four days later**

"Hi, love. How was your day?" Esme asked me as I came through the door.

"Mentally exhausting."

"Why, what happened?"

"Remember my patient Miss Swan?"

"Yes," she replied, sitting on my lap. "What happened with her?" she asked, resting her head on my chest.

"Her case has been declared hopeless. I don't know what to do. She is so young and full of life. She will be devastated if she's crippled. One of her legs is infected. She has a very high fever because of it. I want to help her, but science has its limits," I said, frustrated yet again.

"What she needs is a miracle," I stated.

"Okay, why don't I go and fill the tub for a bath and you join me? It will relax you, so you can see things more clearly."

"Okay."

Later that night, I was in my office assessing the extent of Gabriella's injuries for the fiftieth time. There was only one way to help her, but who was I to change her future like that?

What if she hated me afterwards? What if she told someone? How would she react to it? What if she died? There were too many questions that I didn't know the answer to, but I was ready to take the risk.

**Back to Gabriella's POV**

"Gabriella,'' Dr. Cullen said when he came to see me. He looked worried.

I used my remote to raise the mattress to where I was allowed, so I could I see him without damaging the stitches in my back.

"You are not healing as well as I thought you were, and the other doctors say that you are a lost case. They think you won't be able to walk again, and they fear you may have brain damage since some your reflexes are very slow.''

A tear rolled cold against my cheek. I was very hot and couldn't breathe right. I was on many different medications, so what he was saying had to be true. I was incapacitated from my waist down. My legs had been operated on, and one of them still in the cast. The other one was out in the open because of the infection.

"There's a way for me to save you, but it's tricky," he said.

"I'll do anything," I stated.

"Are you sure? This is not a decision to take lightly."

"Why?" I asked him.

"Because nothing will be the same," he said.

"But will I be better than this?" I asked hopefully.

"Much," he replied.

"Okay then, I'll do it."

**Three hours later:**

"I can make you heal, but you will have to give some things in return that will never come back,'' he said.

"What kind of things?'' I asked.

Carefully, he grasped my hand and sat at the chair beside my bed. His hands were always cold—I guess from working so many hours in the cold hospital.

"Well, you will not be the same person for some time, and your body will change," he said, looking at my reaction.

"My body is ruined right now, so any version of this will be a million times better," I said.

"What else do I have to give to heal?'' I asked, and he raised his eyes to stare at me.

"Almost everything, Gabriella. It will be like dying," he responded.

"I have to tell you that it is going to be painful, and there is nothing I can do to make it better,'' he said, watching every reaction on my face.

He was silent after that.

I wanted the future that I had planned when I received the letter from Dartmouth—attend college and get my degree, have a good job, and maybe fall in love again. I had to move forward. This wasn't going to stop me. If I had to give it all, then I was willing to do it.

"Well, let's do it then. I trust you, Dr. Cullen,'' I told him.

It was the truth. For the little time I had known him, he gained my trust.

"Are you sure?'' he asked incredulously.

"Yes,'' I answered.

To my surprise, he looked like he regretted what he said to me before, but now it was too late. He told me that he could help me, and I wanted to heal.

"Okay, then, I'll get everything ready."

I didn't know what I was getting myself into…

**Carlisle's POV**

"Esme, get everything ready, pack up the apartment, and be ready to leave for Forks in four hours," I told her.

"Why are we moving? What happened?"

"Gabriella accepted."

"She did?"

"Yeah."

"Did you tell her everything?"

"No, my love, I didn't have the heart"

"You lied to her?"

"No, I just omitted some things."

"It's the same."

"Would you rather have her die?"

"Okay, okay, I'll be ready," she said, resigned.

I know where she was coming from. I had created Rosalie without her consent, and she still resents me for it even after all this time. But maybe Gabriella wasn't going to do the same? Well, I didn't know. I guess we would find out when everything was done.

I hope I'm doing the right thing, because I do want to help her, but this is the only way.


	6. Warrior

**Here is the next chapter! :-) I dont own.**

**Chapter 6 **

**Warrior:**

Dr. Cullen came closer to my bed and started moving all the cables and monitors. Except for my IV and the nasal tube in my nose; I needed that to breathe.

Other nurses came in, and they moved me very carefully from the bed to a gurney, and then I was taken out of the room.

"Is the helicopter ready?" Dr. Cullen asked

"Yes," my head nurse, Mary, replied.

"Why do we need a helicopter? I get motion sickness," I said.

"Mary, please get something for that and bring it over."

"Yes, Dr. Cullen." She patted my hand and left.

"I will transport you to Washington State, and I will continue to take care of you there, Gabriella. Have no fear, everything will be all right just trust me, okay? I can do this easier there,'' he said

Mary came back with the medicine when they had finished loading me in the helicopter.

"Have a safe trip. It was nice working with you. You're a great doctor. Hope we can work together again someday."

"Someday." He smiled at her.

The doors of the helicopter were closed, and we were in the air. Dr. Cullen held my hand and told me that everything would be fine, and I believed in him because he was so determined.

I don't know how long we were in the air. I spent part of the journey asleep. Finally, we had landed. I was unloaded from the helicopter to an ambulance. We rode in it for a short while.

"We are here," Dr. Cullen announced as the doors opened, and I was unloaded. Then I noticed that we were not at a hospital, but in a driveway.

"Were not going to a hospital?" I asked confused.

"I told you I was going to take care of you personally, Gabriella. I don't need the hospital for that," he replied.

"Be careful at the doorstep, guys. Take her to the third door on the right, please." He ordered.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"My house," was all he said.

Why on earth would he bring me to his house?

When I was settled on the bed, the paramedics left, and Dr. Cullen stayed in the room with me. I was a bit nervous. I knew he said he was going to heal me, but why did he bring me to his house? I asked myself again. I was starting to freak out.

I was laying there defenseless with just the ventilator. Dr. Cullen then removed all my casts and bandages. My leg hurt. I could feel it now. I winced.

"Don't worry. All of it will be gone soon enough," he stated.

He got closer to the bed. His face leveled with mine, and he caressed my face.

"Gabriella, I hope that one day you can forgive me for this. If you survive," he said in a sad, regretful tone.

"What you mean?" I asked, but he didn't answer me.

"I'm sorry," he repeated.

With a fast movement, he bent his head near my neck and moved as if he was going to kiss me there. His lips graced near my life vein, and I felt his teeth nibbling.

"What are you doing?" I asked alarmed.

He took a breath and placed his teeth's near my jugular, he bared his lips, and I screamed when his teeth bit and penetrated my skin. It hurt so badly

"What are you doing?" I yelled at him, but my voice was gargled.

He didn't answer anyway. He just bitted harder, and I felt something going through, entering my body from the wound.

After a few more minutes, Dr. Cullen finally raised his head. He had blood dripping from his lips.

"What, did you…?" I couldn't finish. My eyes closed and everything went dark.

Suddenly my whole body was on fire, like if I had been directly dragged into hell. I tried to scream but I couldn't find my voice. I wanted to die. If this was the way he said he would heal me, it was far worse than the pain I was in before. I was burning, and the pain was unstoppable.

I tried to move but it felt like I was glued to the bed. I tried to open my eyes, but they were shut tight. The only thing I could do was hear, so I tried to listen, but there was nothing there. I don't know how much time passed. I felt alone, and I was in real pain. This was worse than when I had my heart broken twice—that pain I had survived.

I wanted it to stop.

"Make it disappear, please," I begged.

"Make it stop!" But no one seemed to hear me.

And then I heard Dr. Cullen's voice again. He was trying to soothe me.

"It's almost done, Gabriella. A little longer and the pain will be over, I promise,'' his angelic voice said.

It will pass soon? How much time has passed already?

"Please, let it be over," I pleaded again.

After that, I suddenly felt the burning sensation leaving my body. It ran away through my palms and toes. Then my heart stopped beating, and I opened my eyes.

Everything was dimmed, but I noticed that I was lying in the same room as before. I moved my head to the side, and Dr. Cullen was standing in front of me staring, his eyes careful as if he was looking at something dangerous. It annoyed me for some reason.

He looked at me as if I was going to hurt him. I was not, of course. It was the other way around. He was the one I should be afraid of. I remembered what he did, and my hand went to my neck in a movement so fast it was blurry. There was a scar there, but I didn't know how noticeable it was. I looked around, everything was so clear; I could see every little detail. I took a breath; I could smell every little thing in the air. I could even see the dust floating. Why was everything so heightened? I could hear water running in the distance.

"Gabriella?" Dr. Cullen asked. His voice sounded different, louder and clearer than before.

What was wrong with me? Why could I see, hear, and smell differently? What had he done to me?

"What did you do to me?" I asked. My voice was strange, like chiming bells.

He moved to get closer to me.

I cringed away from him, and then I saw someone beside Dr. Cullen. I hadn't noticed her before. The woman was pretty, her face soft, almost angelic, and just as pale as the doctor's face. She was small and slender as she looked at me with soft, caring eyes.

"What happened to me? What did you do?" I asked a little louder than before, looking in his direction.

"How are you feeling?" he asked me.

"Strange, I was like burning, but then it stopped. Why don't you answer me, Dr. Cullen? What did you do to me? Why did you bite me?"

The woman beside him moved closer to his back as if she was afraid of my outburst.

"Everything is all right, Gabriella. You will know everything soon enough," he said, placating me.

My eyes landed again on the woman beside him, "I forgot to introduce you. This is my wife, Esme. Esme, this is Gabriella Swan.''

"Hi, nice to finally meet you,'' Esme said, her voice warm. She was still hidden behind Dr. Cullen's back.

Why was she afraid of me?

When was he going to finally tell me what just happened, and why I feel so different? I didn't like that he was being so cryptic. I didn't like it one bit.


	7. Thicker Skin

**Here is the next chapter, enjoy!**

**Chapter 7**

**Thicker Skin: **

"Well, I have a confession for you, for what I did…" Dr. Cullen started to say.

"Yes?" I asked, although it sounded louder than how I said it.

"Gabriella, we are," he said softly.

I frowned. Why didn't he just say whatever it was already?

After a sharp intake of breath, he spoke again.

"Esme and I are…v…vampires,'' he said, looking at me fully..

Wait what did he just say? Did he say Vampires?

"What did you just say?'' I asked, but neither one of them answered me.

"You're crazy right? You're lying. You have to be," I said.

Again I was met with silence. Why weren't they answering my questions?

"Vampires don't exist. That's fiction!" I argued.

"Gabriella, vampires do exist. There are two in front of you right now," Dr. Cullen responded.

I couldn't find the right words to say. I was confused.

I thought for a second, letting his words sink in, but my mind was running a million miles per hour; nothing was straight.

"Then that means…no! Don't tell me that I…I…no, no, no!" I said, panicked. It couldn't be true.

"You're lying. This isn't real. No! This can't be true, Dr. Cullen. I can't be one of you!" I exclaimed as I stood up from the bed, knocking some things down. Esme backed into the wall while Dr. Cullen took a defensive pose in front of his wife.

"Gabriella, calm down," he warned.

"NO! Why did you do this to me?" I yelled at him.

"Because it was the only way to save you from the future you were going to have. You were going to be crippled. You were never going to be the same person again."

"Why didn't you just explain yourself to me from the beginning? Why lure me into it? Why did you lie to me after I trusted YOU?" I said, lunging at him, but he caught me in midair and stopped me from crashing into him.

"Gabriella, please listen to me. Calm down," he said, his tone never faltering; it was as if he was trying to soothe a child.

I finally succumbed and fell into his arms. I started sobbing, although no tears formed in my eyes. He didn't say anything but continued to hold me while I dry heaved.

I don't know how much time passed before I finally stood up,

"You're a vampire," I stated.

"And now you are too. That is what I did to help you, to save you." He said, and I still didn't believe him.

I sat on the bed, and he sat beside me. I don't know where his wife had gone, but she wasn't in the room.

"But…how? I mean the blood…I mean how come you didn't drink my blood?" I asked.

Stupid question! But true, as far as I knew vampires survived off human blood.

"How come you didn't kill me?" I added

"Well, Gabriella, we drink blood, yes, but not human blood. We are vegetarian vampires. We live off of animal blood," Dr. Cullen said.

I frowned "What did you just say? Animal blood? Are you kidding me?" I snorted; he just chuckled and then answered.

"It doesn't fully satisfy us, but it is enough for us to survive on," He explained.

"That is why our eyes are golden, not like yours, which are red. They will be like ours in a year or so, if you decide to follow our diet, of course," he told me.

"Your Diet?" I repeated. "If you decide to take the same path as Esme and I, drink from animals instead of humans," Dr. Cullen said to me.

I was shocked. I was a vampire? When did the fantasy world mix with the real one?

"But in the meantime, you can't be near humans," he said, and waited for my reaction.

"But, Dr. Cullen…what about Dartmouth? What about my plans, and the choices I had made for my future?'' I asked, and he looked at my worried expression.

He spoke carefully.

"Well, I have arranged for you to take some online classes,'' he said, reassuring me.

That was not in my plans. That's not what I wanted. I wanted to go to school! I still couldn't believe it. I was a vampire. Well, Gabriella, thought, there are no go backs now. You can't take what just happened back. The choice is made. There are no exchanges; what's done is done. There was just one way to move, forward.

"Well, okay, Dr. Cullen. What's done is done,'' I said after a long silence.

"Well, you took it better than I thought you would. Now it is time for you to do your first hunt, and then later we talk about whatever you want to know," Dr. Cullen said, and then turned to his wife.

"Esme, honey, can you please help her change? We will both take her hunting, but I'm going to scout the perimeter first.

"Of course, Carlisle,'' Esme said.

Dr. Cullen…Carlisle, kissed his wife's cheek and then he left.

"You'll be in good hands, Gabriella," he said before finally leaving the room.

Esme smiled at me.

"But, Esme, I don't have any clothes…my luggage, I don't know what happened to it," I explained, and she just smiled.

"Wait here. I'll be back in a second," she said and hurried out of the room in a movement so fast that I barely noticed it. My vision was enhanced by a million; I could see, hear, and feel everything that was going on around me.

Esme came back with a pair of dark-wash skinny jeans, a light blue, long-sleeved top, and a pair of black converse sneakers that I recognized as mine.

"How…?" I asked.

"The police recovered your suitcase at the site of the crash in New York and took it to the hospital. Carlisle brought it with you," she told me.

I nodded and stood up. Wow, that was cool. My movements were fast. The same smell hit me again. My throat flared, so I grasped it with my hands and noticed that they were cold like Dr. Cullen's.

"What's that smell?" I asked Esme.

She chuckled and then smiled. "I think you need to wash off first. That's the smell of your blood," she told me in a casual tone.

I nodded.

"The bathroom is right there," she said, pointing to the door across from me.

"I'll wait here,'' she said, turning toward the door.

When she left, I walked to the bathroom and discovered that I didn't need the light to see, but I turned it on anyway. The bathroom was precious. The sink top was made of black marble. There where white cabinets, a shower with the biggest shower jets I'd ever seen, and a tub big enough for two people. I turned to the mirror in front of me and removed the white hospital robe I had on. It smelled appetizing, and my throat burned again. It was covered in my blood on one side, the side where Carlisle had bit me on.

I slowly started to look at myself… I was shocked at how thin I was. I guess the transformation restored my body to its original state. This was amazing! I had a whole new body, a new face. My hair was shinier, fuller, longer, more defined, and absolutely perfect! My skin was paler and hard. I couldn't believe it. My hair was beautiful. My face was beautiful. The only thing that was out of order was my eyes; they were bright red, but in a year they would be the same as Esme's.

At least that's what Dr. Cullen said.

I turned on the shower and started rinsing myself off with a washcloth and some soap. I finished fast enough. Then I washed my hair and that was it. I got out and put the clothes on; every movement was so fast I was amazed with myself.

I was absorbed in my thoughts when Esme came into the room.

"Gabriella, are you okay?" She asked, worried.

"Yes, I was just admiring myself. I got lost in my thoughts. Sorry," I apologized, and she just smiled.

"It's okay. That's normal," she added. "Ready?" she asked me.

"As I'll ever be" I replied, and Esme nodded.

"Carlisle is waiting outside," she said.

I followed her out of the house and then I walked beside Carlisle; all the while I copied all her movements and actions. We got to the river, and I jumped behind them. My jump was perfect, I laughed, and they did the same. As we approached the edge of the river, Esme and Carlisle became more alert and so did I.

"Now, Gabriella, tell me, What do you hear?'' Carlisle asked, and I listened for a second.

"I can hear something not far from here, but I don't know what it is. It smells good, though.'' I guessed, and he approved.

"Now, let's get moving before it changes course,'' Esme said, and I started running behind her.

The wind flew past me as I ran. This was so fun. I was beginning to love it. We reached the herd. Esme informed me that they were deer, animals I had never seen since I grew up in Puerto Rico. I mimicked Carlisle and Esme until I caught a deer for myself. I struggled with it for a few minutes, but in the end, it surrendered as I took the first bite.

My teeth cut through the skin and the fat very easily. I drank it completely unaware of my surroundings. As soon as the blood hit my throat, I felt a soothing sensation inside me. The deer was pretty big. I felt full with just this one. I threw the carcass away and went to wait until Carlisle and Esme finished with their deer; they let me run ahead of them on the way back to the house.


End file.
